Railroad-rail.



W. F. TRAVES. RAILROAD RAIL.

. APPLICATION IILBD Imm, 1911.

1,000,461. Y Patented Aug. 15,1911.

UNrrnn .srarns PATENT onirica.

WEBSTER F. TRAVES, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNORITO WILLIAM H. BECKER, OF

CLEVELAND, OHIO.

RAILROAD-RAIL.

To 'all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VEBSTER F. TRAVES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Rails, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to railroad rails, and has for its object theprovision of a rail the tread portion of which can be cheaply andexpeditiously replaced when worn, and which can be cheaply and easilymanufactured.

Another object is the provision of a rail in which the joints shall beso thoroughly overlapped and broken as to materially increase theirstrength and to diminish the noise and shock occasioned by the carwheels passing thereover.

A further object is the provision of a rail having increased facilitiesfor electrical bonding.

Additional objects and advantages will appear from the follo-wingdescription and claims.

One embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying.drawings in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of arail made in accordance with my invention showing the manner of applyingmy invention to a joint between two rail base sections; Fig. 2 is avertical cross sectional View of a rail constructed in accordance withmy invention and Fig. 3 represents a view, similar to Fig. 2, of amodied form of my invention.

Describing the parts by reference characters, the base l of the railconsists vof a steel member of substantially I-shape having a flat baseadapted to be secured to the ties 2 by means of the usual bolts 3 andhaving a flat horizontal head 4t connected to said base by means of theVertical web 5. This construction is exactly the same as that of theordinary rail now in use except that the head is made thinner andflatter than in the ordinary construction. Adjacent base members 1 andla are connected together by means of fish plates 6 and bolts 7 as inthe usual construction.

The tread member of the rail is made separate from the base member andcom- Specflcaton of Letters Patent.

Application led February 2, 1911.

Patented Aug. 15, 1911.V

serial No. 606,225.

prises a flat steel plate 8 slightly wider than the head 4 and having ateach side a depending lip or flange 9 adapted to overhang the edges ofthe head. The lower surface of the tread member is made flat so as toengage the surface of the head et and the internal faces of the lips or`flanges 9 are beveled ribs l0 which are adapted to spring over theedges of the head so as to hold the tread member securely in positionthereon. The upper surface of the tread member is shown as provided witha longitudinal groove ll adjacent one side to receive the flange of thecar wheel, thus adapting the rail particularly for street car work, al1though it is obvious that the rail head might be made smooth and roundedaccording to the usual practice in steam railroad work and the lowervsurface of the tread member 8 be correspondingly rounded. Vit-h thisconstruction of the tread member and base member the tread member can bepried away from the base member at one end and ,progressively detachedtherefrom, the shape and resilience of the lips or flanges 9 beingsufficient to permit this action and at the same time to hold the twomembers securely together according to the requirements of actual use.The method of assembling is but the reverse ofthe method of dismount-Ying since, if one end of the tread member be applied `to the headmembert, the two members can be progressively united from `this startingpoint by the application of pressure to the tread member. -This pressure can be created by allowing a car to runv upon the tread member, theweight of the car forcing the tread member in place. The joints betweensuccessive t-read members are staggered as regards those of the basemembers thus strengthening the rail in a marked degree and retarding thewearing of the tread members at the joints which is so obvious inordinary rails. Furthermore this overlapping of the different railmembers will be found to form a sufficiently close electrical union formany purposes, since the relative abrasion of the members caused bytheir method of assembling will be found to scrape some of the oXid fromt-he surfaces thereof, and the pressure created by the wheels of passingvehicles will tend to keep the clean surfaces in close electricalcontact.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the tread member A8a as formed with aseparateflange member 9a at one side so as to permit the same to be made of moreflexible and resilient steel than could profitably be employed for thewhole tread. This flange member is formed with the same inclined rib10a, and is secured to the tread member, as by brazing, welding,riveting or bolting. It will be obvious that both flanges could be madein this way if desired, and that many other changes could be made in thedetails thereof. All such modifications I consider as within the scopeof my invention except as excluded by the terms of the claims heretoannexed, or as existing in the prior artf In practice the portions ofthe depending flanges 9, 9a, which receive the sides of the rail head 4have been made about one-eighth inch thick, the thickness of the metalacross the beveled ribs 10 being about three-sixteenths of an inch.v Theflanges have been given a special treat-ment which gives themsubstantially the resilience of spring steel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: Y

l. In a railroad rail, the combination of a base member having a head,and a tread member applied to the head, said tread member comprising aplate adapted to rest on top of the-head and having depending resilientlianges, each flange being provided with an inner lateral surfaceadapted to bear against the adjacent lateral surface of the head andhaving an inwardly extending projection below such surface, such projection being beveled inwardly and downwardly adjacent to said surface andbeing beveled outwardly and downwardly below the former beveled surface.

2. In a railroad rail, the combination of a base member having a headprovided with substantially vertical sides, and a tread member supportedby the head of the base member, the treadV member comprising a plateadapted to rest on top of the head and having depending resilientflanges, each flange being provided with a substantially vertical innerlateral surface adaptedto bear against the corresponding verticalsurface of the head and with an inwardly extending projection below suchvertical surface so located as to engage the under surface of the headto lock the tread member in place thereon, such projection having itslower portion downwardly and outwardly inclined to facilitate theapplication of the tread member to the head.

3. In a railroad rail, lthe combination of a base member having a head,the head being provided with substantially vertical sides, and a treadmember applied to the head, said tread member having depending flangesadapted'to engage the sides of the head, each of said flanges'beingprovided with a substantially vertical inner vsurface adapted to bearagainst the corresponding side of the head and provided with an inwardlyextending projection below such inner surface, each of said projections'being adapted to engage the under surface of the head and beingdownwardly and inwardly beveled immediately below such surface and'being outwardly andV downwardly beveled below theV former beveledsurface.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses. WEBSTER F. TRAVES.

Witnesses: Y f

HAROLD E. SMITH, BRENNAN B. WEST.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byraddressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

